The future NBA team in Las Vegas may play in what Commissioner Adam Silver called a “modern entertainment palace,” as the league’s Board of Governors began zeroing in this week on expansion and the dream venues that could sweeten the bids.
According to Silver, the arena options in Las Vegas — which, along with Seattle, is expected to be awarded a franchise by the end of the year — are a renovated T-Mobile Arena or a high-tech building that can rival the Sphere and be utilized 365 days a year.
Silver said Mavericks governor Patrick Dumont, who has operated property there as chairman and CEO of the Las Vegas Sands Corporation, versed his fellow owners during this week’s BOG meetings in New York on the potential sites and their merits. While Silver did not name the bidders, it is believed Golden Knights owner Bill Foley would like to acquire the team and house it in T-Mobile Arena (he owns 15% equity in the building, with AEG owning 85%), while Walmart heiress Nancy Walton Laurie and her husband Bill Laurie prefer a new building.
“Several active groups, I’ll leave it at that,” Silver said Tuesday. “…I think that there is real excitement around a renovated T-Mobile arena. I think everyone acknowledges if a team were to stay there, it still needs some significant improvements. But at the same time, there are groups who have presented plans to build what I would call a modern entertainment palace in Las Vegas. And it’s a unique market where you could truly see essentially 365 day a year activity. There was some discussion about how much the Sphere has impacted Las Vegas, what a technological marvel that is, what it’s meant as a showcase, and even as what it’s meant economically for Las Vegas. And so some discussions around a similar vein.”
Considering the final round of expansion bids aren’t due until later this year — although the next rounds are due soon — Silver said, “My personal view is it’s premature to start locking in a site” for Las Vegas. Seattle expansion, on the other hand, was not as much of a topic this week because Silver said Climate Pledge Arena is essentially up to league standards already.
“We clearly have a state-of-the-art arena there [in Climate Pledge that] may require some modifications for NBA basketball, but if we were opening in five weeks, we could be ready in Seattle,” Silver said. “So just because we can only take on so much at once, more of the discussion was around Las Vegas. But … I’ve been saying it’s our goal to have decisions by the end of the year, and that continues to be our goal.”
